Students, get your resume on 'roids - join Microsoft Student Partners.

 

One for the students...

Statistics show, employers prefer graduates who display (amongst other things):

Interpersonal and Communication Skills (written and oral) 

Activities – includes both intra and extra curricular

Passion/Knowledge of Industry/Drive/Lateral Thinking/Technical Skills

Initiative and enterprise

(from 2006 Graduate Outlook Survey, by GCA)  

And it just so happens that I'm currently recruiting new Microsoft Student Partners for academic year 2008 (yes yes, I love a good segue). I can give you the experience to demonstrate these abilities and thus add firepower to your resume (plus student partners get a whole lot more than just this - read on).

When you work in IT, developing a strong, supportive community is everything. Microsoft Student Partners (MSPs) are our take on developing community within universities. MSPs are generally normal IT/CS/Multimedia students, with the one important difference - they get really excited about Microsoft products. Upon joining the team, Microsoft Student Partners do things like organise guest Microsoft lecturers, deliver technical sessions to their peers, conduct student events and giveaways on campus and a whole lot more to help us deliver more value to uni's and build better relationships with lecturers and students alike.

Of course, the question needs to be asked - What do MSPs get in return? Well, the roles are not paid, BUT we deliver heaps of value to MSPs in other ways. You get:

  • Invited to various other Microsoft events
  • A free MSDN subscription (valued at ~$4000)
  • An MSDN Welcome pack
  • To be part of the most fun group of people you ever met (seriously)

 

^ MSPs at Movieworld for Tech.ED 2007 Party. The guy on the far right is from Apple (just kidding!!) Thanks to Ed for the photo.

There's a bunch of other perks too, such as attending the MSP Bootcamp, networking with industry, meeting new people, winning prizes and developing new skills.

If you're:

  • studying IT
  • maintain good academic performance
  • are interested in becoming a Microsoft Student Partner and
  • have at least a superficial knowledge of either Expression Studio, .NET development, Windows Server and / or any other Microsoft products,

...then check out https://student-partners.com, fill out the application form and return it to the email address included on the form. I'll take it from there! I don't mind if you're a ugrad, a masters student or a PhD candidate - the right person to be an MSP is based on enthusiasm and good attitude. (By the way, if you're interested in seeing what other MSPs are up to, some of them are blogging, so check the Student Partners blogroll in the right hand side of this blog.)

NB - this is only for Australian students.